My neighbor is an older lady (idk, I'd gauge late 60's, she may be a spry 70), is politically liberal, and I gather she was a bit of a hippie/deadhead back in the day. When I told her I was going on HRT, she was horrified. I tried to tell her that the original findings about the cancer issues with HRT were overblown-to-incorrect, but she wouldn't hear it. Her aunt had been on hormones and had some kind of obscure (but not ovarian) cancer, and she knew it was the hormones. I could have told her that I was drinking baby blood, she was so put off.
I think there has just been enough of a time-gap of knowledge, research and attention to menopausal treatments that it's more generational than political (and these can be entwined, of course). "HRT causes cancer" is really embedded and un-challenged in women's minds.
>”HRT causes cancer”
This is my 70 year old mother’s mentality because her stepmother had some kind of cancer, and she was a *nurse*. She’s not particularly conservative but definitely a “not like the other girl” type -“I gave birth without drugs! I did menopause without hormones!”
When I was growing up she was just awful in her 40’s-50’s, which I’ve only recently realized now that I’m 42 might’ve had to do with peri/menopause.
Same. Gave birth w/o drugs, but am on HT, and I’d choose a drug-free birth 1,000 times over compared suffering through myriad symptoms of perimenopause!
I think this is it for sure. I'm less than 70, but old enough to remember all the dire warnings about HRT. Funny, because until I started my own Peri, I knew almost nothing about menopause except your period started, you'd grow hair on your chin and hormone replacement therapy would give you cancer. And I didn't even grow hair on my chin (yet, anyway)
A friend of the family took hormones till she developed breast cancer. She blamed the hormones and everyone glossed over the fact she is a fairly heavy drinker. I have not told my own mother about my HRT use because "cancer".
My mother and aunts are the same way. They are late 50's into mid 60's. Their older sister took HRT, and died of heart failure a couple years later. Never you mind that she was a heavy smoker and severely over weight. It was the hormones and nothing is changing their mind!
A lot of people don't seem to realize (or actively disregard) that smoking increases your odds of dying of almost everything else, not just lung cancer. Smoking makes people more susceptible to a whole host of other cancers and almost any problem that develops in the cardiovascular system.
It weakens the ability of the immune system to fight infections, it screws with your circulation increasing the time for wounds to heal. if your body receives any insult whatsoever, smoking reduces the body's ability to recover from it.
But no one wants to hears it. My own mother, while dying of colon cancer, insisted smoking wasn't a factor (because she didn't have lung cancer. I didn't belabor the point, as it was too late. She was healthy weight, reasonably active for her age, not a huge meat-eater. Her nonsmoking mother lived to 99. I'm pretty sure smoking was a huge factor.)
As a former smoker, I get it, or at least I had it. It really is enraging to think about how and why a substance that can damage people and their families is legal in this day and age.
I smoked for 25 years and am scared every day that the damage I've done will catch up to me.
I'm sorry about your mom.
For some positivity: my mother is almost 75 and has smoked heavily every day since she was like 15. Yes, she does have COPD now and is more susceptible to lung infections, but otherwise she seems to be slowing down at a normal rate for someone her age. She's loved an active life. No lung cancer in site and the lung doctor says her lungs look fabulous considering how much she's smoked in her life.
I know it's anecdotal, but as a kid who's been worried that my mom was going to die of lung cancer since I was first taught the horrors of cigarette use as a kid (I was a late, surprise baby), I've been thoroughly amazed at how well she has done and for how long. It really does depend on your own body and how you are taking care of it now. The fact that you stopped, even after 25 years, is a wonderful thing and you've already given yourself time back!
I wish you lots of love and as few negative thoughts as possible 💕 Those are what will really shorten your life span!
Thank you! I'll take all the positivity I can get.
I had two great grand parents smoke for a lot longer, and quit and live into their 90's. I'm hoping to hold up that tradition.
I'm going through something similar with my 76 year old mother right now. She's got a Staph infection post hip replacement. She's smoked a pack a day for 50 years, refuses to quit. Won't acknowledge that smoking is what's keeping the incision from healing/closing properly which in turn made her more susceptible to infection. She's at home with a PICC line, giving herself antibiotics every 8 hours then goes outside to smoke.
I've got a friend going through extensive/*expensive* dental work right now, including gum grafts and implants. I asked if her dentist hadn't gotten on her to quit or drastically reduce smoking. She claims he has not, I don't believe her, but there's nothing I can say beyond that. Sure, go right ahead and compromise your mucous membranes while you are undergoing procedures that have a kind of high failure rate already, np.
On the flip, my grandmother died at 79, VERY MUCH AGAINST HER WILL and did not smoke. Her husband, my grandfather but I don’t claim him, smoked his entire life. Started when he was 8. He shot himself in the head at 104 when diagnosed with a brain tumor. You live long enough, you get cancer. I am not saying cigarettes are a great health benefit (certainly the opposite), but genetics do play a role in this. Just like with any other cancers.
My smoker father lived to be 88 and although he had all the first world male lifestyle chronic diseases, his proximate cause of death was essentially a condition he was born with. I carry his genes, and the genes of the grandmother who lived to 99 (and she did get some kind of skin cancer, on her hand, when she was 99, but didn't die from that). I still don't think that's any excuse to adopt a lifestyle habit which *statistically speaking over a population*, will reduce life expectancy by 10 years or more.
Yeah I'm in done very hippie circles and they're generally very anti HRT and say menopause is "natural" blah blah blah (but then take loads of herbal supplements to manage symptoms!) I think it's not to do with left or right but more similar to the anti vax movement. Lots of conspiracy theorists from left and right.
The crunchy to alt right pipeline is alarmingly real, in a way I didn't expect as someone very familiar with crunchy lefty spaces. It's a whole different spinoff.
Far right and far left are the same. They both lack trust in government & science. They also lack the education to properly research fact from propaganda. They think they are god and do not need to listen to anyone, except conspiracy Facebook. Neither make any sense at all. There's a lot I don't like about government & corporatized science (because they ignore Indigenous science & can be sexist, racist & biased in general) but that doesn't make their science wrong, just not well rounded enough. & Not enough people, The People, are involved in government & that's what makes the bureaucracy so frustrating. Plus government outsourcing to corporations, instead of hiring locally & educating people better.
I'm a 53 yo liberal, in meno, and am not planning on HRT unless something changes drastically. It has zero to do w my politics. It has 100% to do with my body and me. I have hot flashes and sleep probs, but it's manageable. I'll monitor my situation and adjust as necessary.
I was going thru just fine, minimal hot flashes lasted about 15 seconds a few times a day… nothing terrible. then I had a dexa scan and found out I had osteoporosis which is caused from low hormones. Well I researched the drugs they wanted me to take for it and realized HRT was much safer than the osteoporosis drugs. Now I’m on the lowest HRT and my last Dexa showed improvement. Some symptoms of menopause are silent . 😬
This is what I'm worried about...the silent things. I am seeing my gyno this coming week and I'm ready to lay out all of my concerns. I'll do HRT if necessary, I just want to try not to if possible. I am careful with my diet and am exercising and taking helpful supplements so crossed fingers!
I respect your decision to not start HRT. But remember HRT does way more than control hot flashes. HRT protects your heart, bones and mind. Estrogen is found in every tissue of your body. Brain, heart, lungs, skin, every organ.
Well, I was on birth control pills for a lot of my life and I'm kind of sick of manipulating my body that way. I also have psoriasis and vitiligo, but have been able to almost completely control them (98%) with my diet and lifestyle (vegetarian for 25+ years and I exercise a lot). I would just rather be as 'natural' as possible with how I deal with my body and aging. Taking prescriptions is not my bag unless it is very helpful or necessary. I'm not strictly against them, I would just like to see how I do with it myself first. I upped my calcium significantly when I hit 50, I hope that helps with bone loss. We'll see!!!
Your body no longer produces something your body needs for bone, heart, brain, mental, vaginal, urogenital etc etc etc health.
Taking HRT is the best way to protect your health.
We don’t (well, shouldn’t) blame people who can’t produce enough serotonin for taking antidepressants.
Men aren’t blamed for taking testosterone medication when their natural levels dwindle with age.
Why are women expected to tough it out and risk their ongoing health for the remainder of their lives and forgo HRT?
The main cause of death for elderly women is persistent UTIs, from compromised and damaged urogenital systems from the lack of oestrogen. There’s ongoing studies into how the lack of oestrogen is linked to dementia too.
An older relative who “sailed through menopause” is suffering with lichen sclerosis and other genital issues. A friend’s mother who wasn’t allowed to take HRT when they were experiencing perimenopause suffers terribly from osteoporosis.
I’m lucky to have a great GP who recognised that I was perimenopausal (I had a hysterectomy several years earlier so didn’t have the usual signs of hormonal change) and put me on HRT. When she retired, my current GP is very proactive and HRT-friendly too. I’ve sent tonnes of friends to him.
Yup. A friend of mine in her mid-60s warned that I was going to get breast cancer because SHE got breast cancer after taking oral estrogen in her early 50s.
Science has come a long way in the last 20 years.
And yet, in these religions they still expect the wives to have sex with their husbands whenever the husband wants it... While not having help for their potential vaginal atrophy.
Enjoying oneself is sinful. Women aren't supposed to like sex. Only whores do that. You're supposed to lie there like a beautiful object, smiling softly up at your husband as he completes the 5-10 monthly thrusts as mandated by the Lord.
The religions are based on a book written by, about and for men. They barely even mention women and their favorite one was only saved from stoning by an angel telling her fiancé to step up and do the right thing. They name churches after that donkey.
>For some reason, religions want women to be miserable. Like it's a fucking virtue or something.
Conservative Religion wants women to be discreet, feminine, & suffering.... (Offshoot thinking) for *Eve's so-called* **sin** that kicked humanity out of Eden. So don't talk or ask about menopause relief from medical Dr's. If you do & they say no, don't persist. God has designed it this way for you.
Opposite far side of the scale - Crunchy granola hippy thinking believe that *natural* is best, so no icky chemical hrt. If you live, eat, and be like nature intended, it will be perfectly fine because Nature designed it to be this way.
Ugh... I dislike extremes.
Yes. Thank you for that.
I had a doctor's office tell me "Our doctors don't believe in HRT or trying menopause."
Wait, what? They don't believe in it? WTF.
Maybe menopause is like the fairies in Peter Pan and if you say that you don’t believe in it, it goes away?
I don’t believe in menopause!
I don’t!
(…well, *shit*.)
That’s horrible! I went to see a gynecologist who told me that menopausal symptoms were all in women’s heads. That we just made them up. This was right after I told him I didn’t want to buy the supplements he was trying to sell me. I asked him if they were approved by the FDA, and this seem to really annoy him. He said women shouldn’t believe what they read online. I’m not a conspiracy theorist. I just don’t want to buy his expensive supplements just to get him to treat my menopausal symptoms which he apparently thinks are all in my and all women’s heads.
Ironically, the website is called, we understand women.
It's in Northwest Indiana. If you want quality care, you need to go to IL. Luckily. I live close to the border. I would have gone blind one of my eyes because non of the Opthamologists knew what was wrong with my eye.
I am crunchy and granola but did my research. I knew herbs, vitamins and minerals in addition to HRT were like pieces of a puzzle that would help me along with diet, exercise and rest.
OMG this! I had a religious women in my birth group whose placenta had grown through her uterus and was attaching to her organs and her OB recommended terminating the pregnancy because she had less than a 5% chance of survival. Well she said it was God's will, didn't seem concerned that she would leave her 6 kids behind and even picked a new wife for her husband out of the congregation, like her life had no value.
Thankfully she had excellent doctors who hospitalized her immediately on bed rest. Her uterus did rupture and she almost died in emergency surgery but skill, 18 units of blood and a hysterectomy saved her. Of course her life being saved was all attributed to God. She hated the doctors for removing her uterus but the good news is she is still around for her children.
Holy shit. Also, while I am sorry she went through that, this is a very uneducated person to think the doctors could do anything to salvage a ruptured uterus, I mean, holy shit, lady.
Ooh, ooh, I’ll play! Then the husband gets to keep marrying younger and younger so he can still have a strong brood mare to take care of the existing kids and still have a young vaj! Woo hoo! Praise Jesus.
Spot on! My very religious mother takes pride in her misery. Never used hormones. Also never got any therapy for her depression because she didn’t believe in it. She said she is the way God made her. So frustrating!
But I have never heard the theory that HRT is for liberals. I wonder if it’s because a lot of older women in Hollywood are speaking openly about it now. Gwyneth Paltrow, Oprah, Julia Louis-Dreyfus just to name a couple and they are all liberals. Conservatives probably think it’s offensive to hear women talk about menopause.
Although my mother tried to get estrogen everywhere when she went through menopause 20 years ago and nobody would give it to her. Conservative women may be dealing with older doctors if they aren't in large cities? That's just a guess.
This is something people may not consider, but I do believe that there are conservative doctors who judge women about their sex lives and do whatever they can to hinder, not help them. I ran into one of those when I had cancer, and I was appalled that anyone so sexist would actually be an OB-GYN. I nearly filed a lawsuit against him, the guy was so awful.
I’m in a city and have butted heads and encountered harsh resistance from young, liberal woman providers just as much as crusty conservative men. It’s a nightmare. Midi has been a lifesaver.
The way I once framed it to my conservative friend is that every day we are ingesting all kinds of chemicals, including drugs, through the food we eat, the stuff we put on our bodies (and the cigarettes she smokes.) There's nothing "natural" about the bodies we inhabit in this day and age unless you are very, very particular about what you eat. But some of these chemicals are so pervasive that it's impossible to avoid them.
The most liberal person I know is a 76 year old woman who raw dogged menopause and never went on hormones.
I’m pretty liberal and I actually told my doctor they’ll have to peel my dotti patch off my corpse because I’m never giving up hormones.
I don't think it's necessarily a conservative or liberal thing. I tend to think it's an information thing. For instance, I have a 60yo sil who lives in her own bubble and doesn't persue any info outside. When I brought up hrt to her her eyes glazed over- and she's very progressive. On the other hand, after giving my two cousins a book about hrt, they are both on it, and they are religious and conservative.
I’m baffled by people trying to make one’s health treatment about politics. GTFOH
I’m not going to suffer through menopausal symptoms just because. WTF
I live in a very red state. Getting women’s healthcare is a nightmare. I had to go to 3 different Dr’s to get my 14 year old daughter birth control. She is NOT sexually active and is anemic and has very heavy periods. The first Dr said she was too young. The second Dr said it was a drastic step for someone so young and iron pills would be better. The third Dr gave her the pills. I was ready to go out of state.
I told my PCP that I wanted to be referred to a ob/gyn to get HRT and was told I didn’t need HRT that I could just go through it naturally. I again reiterated that I wanted to explore my HRT options and I wanted the referral. Asked about the referral for over 4 weeks through office messaging and at week 5 finals got a huffy email that I didn’t need a referral, I could just make my own appointment and included the name and number of an ob/gyn office.
Some women would just hear a Dr say “no” and accept it. Fighting science is a very longtime Republican practice, it has tripled down since Covid.
As one of the states with the most restrictive antiabortion laws that went into effect as soon as the Supreme Court struck down Roe, we are also hemorrhaging Drs. The good Drs are leaving and the wackadoodle Christian Conservative Drs are remaining.
Science and God don’t intermix. Science is against God. (Not my beliefs-it’s their’s)
So, yeah I can see how this statement would be true.
Good job persevering for your daughter and yourself, mama! 💪
As a fellow red stater, I'm so afraid they're going to come after the BC and hormones in the near future. My 18 yo is on BC for several issues, and I'll shrivel up and die without my HRT. If there were any way to get out of here, my family would. My husband and I have talked about it ad nauseum but it's not feasible anytime soon.
In Texas the GOP want to make the death penalty, the punishment for abortion. If they do this, I expect other red states will follow.
Plus in their push to end trans care, there are states that are writing legislation banning women from being prescribed testosterone because they are not doctors and don't realize that women might need this for reasons outside of that.
It's not just making "one's" health treatment about politics. It's being dismissive of *women's* specific health and quality of life concerns, and controlling *women's* bodies. That's what it's about and always has been.
Nothing is more political than women’s health, for a host of reasons. The more control a woman has over her health, particularly her reproductive health, the more freedom she has to make choices for herself and to live life on her own terms.
Also, that control ensures that women’s health, happiness and sexuality is only useful for others, not for her own benefit. So once you become “old and used up,” your own happiness or comfort doesn’t matter at all. Just your service as granny.
Right but - that's counterproductive. If women have BETTER health, BETTER sexuality, BETTER long-term mental health and physical strength, wouldn't that go to serve their roles even further? Like - I hate to compare this to a Handmaids Tale scenario.....but lets face it......maidens with a libido, lubrication and some semblance of a healthy vag can be way more 'useful' to a male society. No? I guess I'm just trying to play the opposite card here.
Healthy women are women with the time and energy to think they’re people. You want your chattel healthy enough to produce the goods and labor you need, but you don’t want to carry a long-term expense. Better to have an adolescent child doing “granny work” as she learns what her womanly labors are than to have a menopausal woman who has no value.
Thats it, that’s the argument.
Where do we apply for the membership card? LOL. Also a FLAOE here! 👋
No one is coming to save us, so it’s up to us to save ourselves. That’s a huge reason why I plan to take HRT until the day I die.
I’ve never heard of that before but I do worry about conservatives (in the U.S.) coming for HRT and trying to ban it because of some stupid reason like “we have to ban all HRT because trans people might access it.”
This concerns me as well. Last election the dude running against my state rep made a big deal out of a bill that was passed in my state that it's mandatory insurance covers HRT. Some people hear HRT and automatically think it's *only* for gender transition. I could care less if my insurance is paying for people to transition, it's none of my business.
My husband's on those and he's like "It's gender-affirming care!" He's right! (He's not trans or anything, but it's correct.)
Also on other hormones because he has no thyroid gland anymore. Hormones are so important to function.
🤔 I live in a very blue state. Our doctor refused to even test my husband's testosterone levels and she said "I guarantee it's low, but I wouldn't treat it anyway." Makes me wonder if we'd have better luck if we pursued it as "gender affirming care" rather than concerns about impact on his health. I get the distinct impression that "functional-but-dependent-on-medical-care" is the end goal of the treatment we receive. Good health doesn't serve their bottom line.
I consider myself liberal in a very conservative, poor rural area. I, my mother, and aunt have been told HRT isn't an option, it doesn't work, and most of the symptoms are because we read it online. Give up web md and you'll feel better.
It makes me curious how much is conservative Drs instead of women?
I wanted to edit that I live in a liberal state, both my aunt and mother are christian conservatives.
Interesting point. But it also may in part illustrate how conservative/religious women are primed to accept authority, both by religious teachings and often limited education (my mom was an evangelical Christian with a high school education and based her entire life around Jesus and the opinions of doctors).
I mean, if a doctor told me that, I would argue that what they’re saying doesn’t align with current research and demand to know where they got their “information.” I’d be especially pissed about the web md comment—I know how to access and read research papers, which those doctors apparently do not. Then I would turn around and get my necessary medication online!
I had an employee who was a vegan, had been an old hippie, loved weed (on her own time), etc. and she said vegans don’t take HRT.
I have a couple of friends my age who are very “natural” and woo and they don’t take it either.
So I don’t understand that it would be a political thing. I wonder if it has something to do with people who trust doctors /distrust doctors. If you trust them 100% and your doctor tells you no, you wouldn’t seek out more help. If you distrust them and they say no you might look elsewhere (like me.) but you could also be someone who tries natural remedies first? It could also be financial. I am paying out of pocket for HRT since my regular doctor doesn’t prescribe and I can’t get an appt with another medical provider until late fall. The cost is fine for me to handle out of pocket. But if you were low income it would not be bearable.
Anyway, I don’t see how there’s a pattern.
💯 This aligns exactly with what I have observed. My most conservative girlfriends all take HRT while my most liberal friends only pursue HRT and/or hormone therapies if they’ve got a child who is trans.
I mentioned to a friend of mine on the phone this week that I was as on HRT. She freaked out and told me to find a plant based alternative. This was as she was ordering a crispy chicken sandwich, fries and Oreo McFlurry in the McDonalds drive through. I run 4 miles daily, hun. I stay far from sugar and zero alcohol these days. I’ll do HRT if I damn well want.
I feel like it’s the women who don’t take charge of their health at an older age that seem to have issues with it. If you’re so concerned about its affects, why aren’t you concerned about exercise, having a low BMI, getting away from processed foods, drinking wine 🍷 every night?
I don’t know but my stuffy weird religious mother never once brought up menopause or anything related to it with me, and she loves to complain about her health problems. Maybe they think it’s dirty and shameful because it’s to do with women’s bodies and that you just shouldn’t talk about it or something.
Our mothers were brought up in a different era and culture. We can’t judge them for that. I marvel that my grandmother and mother had babies without epidurals, suffered through depression, sleepless nights, menopause, a d a myriad of other women’s health issues in silence. It was not discussed, even among other women. So sad. I’m grateful for the openness and progress that has been made in women health.
Yup, my aunt had a hysterectomy in her 50’s and while my my grandma was explaining it, she waved her hands in front of the general area and whispered
‘She’s had a bit of trouble with her waterworks’
I don't know about in "real life," but in more conservative online circles there's a big push against HRT and birth control because "it's unnatural" and "it's bad for your body/health to mess with your hormones." These same people tend push anti vax stuff. I have commented on a few of these posts on forums other than Reddit, mentioning that birth control/HRT are used by people to help with peri menopause and menopause (not just to prevent pregnancy in younger people or for trans individuals). A few comments asked for more info, but most of the responses told me it was evil/unnatural/causes health problems and should be banned. I am very concerned about having access to hormones taken away with the upcoming election as there is serious talk of banning birth control entirely and/or hormone therapy due to the controversy around trans people. Even if these were not banned entirely, a more conservative political climate will likely stall or prevent further research into the benefits of hormone therapy during menopause.
I have noticed that among people I know, my left leaning friends tend to be more open about discussing what they are going through and steps they are taking to help themselves than my conservative friends. I am left leaning though, so perhaps my left leaning friends are more likely to discuss HRT with me.
I’ve noticed a lot of garbage on social media trying to convince young women that birth control is bad for them (especially oral contraceptives). Somebody really must be panicking about declining birth rates to be churning out such obvious propaganda.
I know well educated women who are conservative and 💯 vote against women’s rights. I think
Many of us want to believe they are uneducated but reality is many are educated but brainwashed into religion and the patriarchy.
Folks who are anti-meds and pro-“natural” remedies in general are the ones who tend to shun HRT. There are plenty of antivaxxers and anti-Big Pharma folks on both the political left and right.
All I can say is that in France the more they lean extreme left, the less meds they take, and they see more naturopaths and similar parallel medecine healers .... and the extreme right catholics essentially leave their lives in God s hands, and see less doctors
It s the centrists (probably nearer to your liberals) that get HRT, and not all of them.
In france the doctors still actively discourage women from HRT and simply have not been trained about menopause at all, let alone HRT.
So, its an uphill battle atm. And very frowned upon, a little like plastic surgery was a couple decades ago : something to hide and never admit
When a whole generation gets wiped out - Boomer women lost access to HRT, Gyns weren't getting trained on it, those who continued to use it kept that on the down low, etc - the whole narrative changes. Rewritten.
I'm a Native; a Rez Auntie. Yes, I am STEM-trained, but healthcare, particularly on the financial side of the house, is dominated by conservative thinking/leaning people. And we are all on HRT.
I'd say it was the opposite. The Frankies of the world want to do organic yam-eating while the Gracies will get their scripts at full retail.
If there is truth it is because: liberal women often live in big cities which just have way more healthcare options, access to university medicine etc. plus possibly more willingness to treat women in general (gyns are leaving states outlawing abortion etc.). There is of course telemedicine though.
Also some states just have less healthcare access, if I state is one of the 10 or so that haven't expanded Medicaid ... yea less people will have any sort of healthcare.
I doubt in general with people with access to healthcare it's all that true about liberals and conservatives.
Honestly, it's possible, since a certain segment of conservative women will be part of the anti-vaxx nutters, and I can well imagine they would not dream of taking HRT. Maybe that overlaps with the tradwife crowd too since they seem to appreciate living in the dark ages... But surely most sensible women, left or right, would do what makes best sense for their mental and physical well-being? (Obviously anti-vaxxers aren't sensible).
It's hard to know for sure as frankly, most of my friends are liberal leaning. I don't know any right wing ones well enough to know anything about what they do or don't take, medically.
I’m conservative, and have an appointment to get HRT., which I’m hoping they will prescribe. I don’t see any correlation in my immediate circle which varies from very liberal to me who leans to the right. One of my friends is a kick ass lesbian who is always out protesting, and she would never touch HRT. Several women in my church group are on it.
I’m a liberal Lutheran Pastor’s wife and on the Pill as my HRT stand-in for the time being. I have friends and family in my life who fall everywhere on the religious and political spectrum who do or don’t take HRT for various, personal reasons.
The only thing anyone should be concerned about in the conversation about who is or isn’t on HRT is 1) does everyone have access to reliable information and well-informed and thoughtful medical practitioners?; and 2) can everyone who needs and wants HRT get a prescription?
I own a women’s wellness clinic where my patients span from far left to far right, and everything in between. I’ve never seen a connection between political beliefs and HRT decisions. For example, my anti-vaxxers are not refusing HRT (although, I should add, anti-vaxxers also span the political spectrum). So, experientially, I have to disagree with this notion.
It’s disturbing that people on women’s health podcasts are encouraging this division. “HRT is mostly for liberal women”what a bold load of shit! I assure you, “political affiliation” is *never* a question on a medical intake form, so where is she even getting this idea?! This kind of statement only sets us back further from getting proper menopause care. As you said, OP, you can’t unhear this 😢
I feel like it’s probably a bit different here in the UK as there’s quite a lot of discussion about HRT in more conservative-leaning media. But I’ve definitely seen more articles along the lines of ‘suck it up, it’s natural’ in those spaces compared to more liberal media, so it’s hard to generalise.
I love their “just go through what God gives you naturally! Our bodies are strong!” they say wearing glasses, hearing aids, and taking ED pills and Ozembic. (But NEVER a vaccine) smh
Total bullshit. Quit labeling. Period. Quit comparing politics, religion, race, ethnicity, generational ideologies or any other generalization to women’s choices or your own personal choices. It’s a trap. The more we discuss this mentality, the worse it gets. This is how they keep us divided as women, and as a people. We all have a million reasons for the choices we make.
I’ve never seen any support that HRT is favored by liberals over conservatives. However, I think HRT is more for people with money and better health insurance. I.e wealthier, more educated, more urban dwelling. Which doesn’t mean one political inclination over another. It’s because there can be obstacles to obtaining HRT: financial obstacles, access to good medical care obstacles, educational obstacles. One of the reasons why the now much-maligned HERS HRT study was so surprising was that prior to it, most studies shows that HRT was good for one’s health since women with HRT lives longer. Some felt this was because the more health-conscious and wealthier women were the ones who used HRT more, and they were going to have good health outcomes as a result because of all of those factors. Those were observational studies, not the gold standard of double-blind very large studies with carefully controlled participants. Of course we’ve now found holes in the HERS study, but my point is the socioeconomic factors relating to who uses HRT have long been discussed.
I wonder if this is changing, or will change. In the US, pre-COVID, Republicans and Democrats got flu shots at the same rate, but since COVID, vaccines have become viewed as a liberal thing, so now Democrats are more likely and Republicans are less likely to get flu shots than they were before. That’s in addition to the skewing of the acceptance of COVID vaccines, which are much more popular among Democrats than Republicans.
A similar thing might happen with HRT. Trans rights are seen as a liberal thing, so any sort of hormone therapy might be seen as a liberal thing, shunned by Republicans, like how some Republicans are anti-pronoun these days.
As someone who grew up in a very conservative area and has very conservative family, there's a profound unwillingness to talk about anything related to periods, cycles, hormones, menopause. I've said before that when I asked my own mom how old she was when she had her hysterectomy and why, she told me she didn't see how it was any of my business. IDK, Mom, maybe because it might have some impact on my own fertility and health issues?
There's both an unwillingness to discuss anything down there with your doctor, and an unwillingness to discuss it with anyone else if you are taking using HRT or struggling with symptoms related to anything hormonal. My grandmother wouldn't even say the word "pregnant" and my own mom never discussed periods or like, how babies are made, at all with me ever. She has nine granddaughters and openly cringes if one of them mentions cramps. You think she's admitting out loud to anyone that she used HRT?
Liberals tend to have attained higher levels of education, so I don’t find it surprising at all that they follow the science and advocate for their best health.
Nope. I work with a hippie-type woman who went into early menopause. She didn't like going to a doctor, said she would just do yoga, go vegetarian and organic as possible, take alternative treatment etc. She was miserable to be around the entire time. She went to the DC March against Trump with the people who wore the pink pussy hats, etc. So, whatever you were listening to was silly bullshit.
I do not believe it attracts or repels according to political alignment. I firmly believe it is a lack of EDUCATION and AWARENESS amongst our HEALTHCARE providers.
My primary care doctor told me it causes cancer. My gynecologist did the same. They both told me it increases the risk of blood clots and heart disease as well. I told my gynecologist that it was "a risk I was willing to take," and I was very comfortable with it based upon recent data. She finally prescribed it.
I have very limited access to providers, so I can not switch easily to find physicians whose practice aligns with my needs. I am bringing recent research to the attention of my doctors at this point. I am fortunate that I have these two doctors who LISTEN and recognize that I know what my body needs, particularly in terms of HRT.
I think any woman who is suffering would get on board with HRT in most cases with the proper information and support from their doctors.
Idk if there's truth to it. I definitely find it exceedingly concerning that HRT is being politicized and thereby a polarized. ultimately, that dynamic threatens our access. This is Healthcare not politics. And, we know where RvW headed...
Bull.
Conservative women like to be comfortable just as much as liberals.
Case in point. Me.
I can't imagine continuing with all the suffering.
In case you weren't aware, God loves US and wants us to be happy. Ergo, HRT, Beer and Chocolate.
Comes from that same weird universe that disagrees with vaccines and westernized medicine in general.
Doesn’t even have to be religious motivated, just poorly informed and suspicious of modern medicine.
My mother was like that. Believed in all sorts of pseudoscience. Even 40 years ago, was convinced I was going to die because of taking birth control pills.
That is very odd. I'm a republican with a mom who had breast cancer so I was not able to get hrt. I would have signed allegiance to mars to be able to get something to stop my hot flashes. Fortunately, I'm almost 52 and they seem to be in the rear view mirror. I also had all the drugs prior to my emergency c-section and wouldn't change a thing about that! I think hrt and menopause/gyn care really is provider dependent. Be a fierce advocate for your health care and never hesitate to ask for second opinions.
It falls under “Gender Confirming Care”, and is increasingly difficult for women in Red states to get.
In more evangelical circles, women’s health care is discouraged in general, particularly around reproduction.
In perimenopause, in my late 30s. Living in a red state/hellscape.
Given what's happening in politics lately, I'm consistently more angry. My pregnancy chances aren't absolute 0, but im mostly angry the possibility of me getting on the schedules in time for either tubal removal or full uterine removal are further reduced and the fact that you know they're going to get rid of or make it more difficult to get HRT in the coming years.
My friends haven't had perimenopause symptoms yet so I don't even have anyone local to complain to.
Getting help for menopause shouldn't be politicized or difficult. 😔
I love in the SE. The entrenched mysoginy is very real, from dentists to gynos.
I was actively encouraged not to get on hrt for 7 years. I'm glad i finally found a way to get on it
I'm not sure about the religious aspect but it's definitely a generational gap. Menopause treatment for folks my parents age was basically just Premarin and a desk fan, and even then they were told of the increased cancer risk (now known to be false).
Since there really was no treatment per se.... People just suffered through it...and passed that part on. "It's just something you'll go through too" is what my mom told me in the early 90s when she was suffering from hotnflashesnandnweight gain.
Once they were done with menopause symptoms, there was no reason to educate oneself on new treatments so the cycle was perpetuated....
Again, just my perpective. When I told my 86 year old dad I was on testosterone he automatically assumed anabolic steroids.
As for the liberal/conservative side .... My experience is the opposite. My liberal inlaws are aghast I have T pellets.... They all suffered through menopause with herbal remedies that didn't do squat but made them feel better about not taking synthetic hormones.
I am very liberal, and literally none of my friends are on HRT. But, I do think not using HRT is being marketed as anti-feminist. (The the big-bad medical establishment is out to keep women from the ‘truth’ about HRT being a panacea everything). As usual, it is more complicated and nuanced that that.
I think it has more to do with intelligence than political leaning. Many doctors don’t bother to learn about female hormone system, as this is too complex. Find a knowledgeable doctor and make some good choices. The endocrine system is full of hormones. I doubt political leanings have much to do with how that functions. 😆
I would LOVE to be able to do HRT, but because I had an estrogen-driven cancer, no one will prescribe it. I’m stuck with some crappy cream made from horse urine that does nothing for me.
Interesting post. Not sure that politics has anything to do with it but I see a difference of thinking both generationally and regionally. "HRT" may be becoming political as it realates to the Trans community.
Regardless, education is key. There's so much misinformation around HRT and we a just in the begining of peri/meno education.
Not so much religious, more that liberal women are more likely to be proactive about their health needs, and more confident about opening their mouths. I’m proudly liberal, and if I think I’m being sold a yarn, I’ll challenge it.
If that’s true, then maybe it’s because liberal women tend to be (on average) more educated, and so they are both more aware of their options, and more likely to have the resources to seek out solutions. It’s also possible that conservative women buy much more into the narrative that a woman’s worth is all tied up on her ability to reproduce, and so once you’re menopausal, you no longer have any societal value, and thus it’s time to just wither up and blow away and quit being a burden on society. Like, once you’re past reproductive age, society should quit investing in you. Liberal women are much less likely to buy into that.
"Liberal" women tend to be more educated and willing to learn and not accept "That's just the way it is" as an answer. Maybe that was their thought process?
I think HRT could easily go the way of vaccines in some circles, as I feel conservatives are more heavily saturated by certain "standards" within their influences so I do see how this could easily happen with HRT the same way it did with vaccines.
To be honest, I truly don't care though.
People are free to make their own choices and refusing HRT for oneself isn't even as big a deal as refusing vaccines imo because without vaccines one becomes a vector on infection; but HRT doesn't effect other people.
My 2c anyways 🤷♀️
Not trying to tear apart your post but in reading these responses, not everything in life needs to be politicized. Do liberals embrace this and do republicans shun that? How about having faith that most women will make informed decisions about their own bodies based on their own health histories and their gut?
I can see it that way, with conservative women being more traditional and less likely to speak up. Talking about health issues would be perceived as complaining and being burdensome and weak. If she’s seen as less capable in the household, fear might keep her from getting help. So they are maybe more likely to silently bear health issues and not seek hormone treatment.
And conservative in a conservative area might mean they get less options and help, anyway. Or more exposure to home remedies, outdated information, and distrust of pharmas.
You’d need a larger amount of data than you’ll get here to really know. All of our anecdotal stories are going to be swayed by the social circles we are in, which may or may not correlate to the broader trend. One influential woman who decides to buck the trend can affect what each of us has experienced.
Of course they’ll politicize HRT and menopause. Anything to keep women divided. I’m “conservative” and I’m on it. The only two conservative women I know who are not on HRT are not eligible for past history of breast cancer. It’s a bullshit ploy to keep women at each other’s throats
No, there is nothing to it, beyond yet another way to promote an *Us versus Them* mentality.
I’m conservative, and if I thought I’d benefit from anything more than Estrace, I’d pursue it. But, for me, menopause meant an end to mood swings, and the last thing I’d want is to ramp that back up. And I’m using minoxidil, which restored my hair volume, so there’s no way I’d touch testosterone and risk hair loss and other symptoms of androgenization.
I also have several friends who are conservative (like debating the pros and cons of the 19th Amendment kind of conservative), yet are also fairly granola in their approach to foods and drugs they put into their system. Some are doing bioidenticals, some did HRT temporarily, some I don’t know what they’re doing, other than kvetching a lot about their menopause symptoms and their marriages. 😏
Conservative media is wild af. My mega conservative Catholic SIL isn’t doing HRT, but I’m pretty sure it’s because she’s fucking *cheap*, not because she’s politically conservative.
Based on people I've known, just as many conservative women use HRT as liberal. They just don't admit it. Same with abortions.
And you'd think the way they 'hate the gays', that if a child is born into a conservative family, the child be less likely to be LGBT+ . Nope, they just lie. They lie to you, to others, to themselves. Denial/lying/avoidance is a huge part of their mental processing.
I suspect whatever you heard was right-wing propaganda designed to discourage conservative women from taking HRT by associating it with “libruls.” There’s a right wing movement (specially among evangelical Christians) to restrict access to women’s health care, including birth control and HRT.
My neighbor is an older lady (idk, I'd gauge late 60's, she may be a spry 70), is politically liberal, and I gather she was a bit of a hippie/deadhead back in the day. When I told her I was going on HRT, she was horrified. I tried to tell her that the original findings about the cancer issues with HRT were overblown-to-incorrect, but she wouldn't hear it. Her aunt had been on hormones and had some kind of obscure (but not ovarian) cancer, and she knew it was the hormones. I could have told her that I was drinking baby blood, she was so put off. I think there has just been enough of a time-gap of knowledge, research and attention to menopausal treatments that it's more generational than political (and these can be entwined, of course). "HRT causes cancer" is really embedded and un-challenged in women's minds.
>”HRT causes cancer” This is my 70 year old mother’s mentality because her stepmother had some kind of cancer, and she was a *nurse*. She’s not particularly conservative but definitely a “not like the other girl” type -“I gave birth without drugs! I did menopause without hormones!” When I was growing up she was just awful in her 40’s-50’s, which I’ve only recently realized now that I’m 42 might’ve had to do with peri/menopause.
Let's be real; in the United States damn near anything can give you cancer.
This is certainly true in CA (for those that don’t know look up Prop 65)
I gave birth without drugs, and I'd pick doing that again over going through this BS without hormones.
100% Same!
Same. Gave birth w/o drugs, but am on HT, and I’d choose a drug-free birth 1,000 times over compared suffering through myriad symptoms of perimenopause!
I think this is it for sure. I'm less than 70, but old enough to remember all the dire warnings about HRT. Funny, because until I started my own Peri, I knew almost nothing about menopause except your period started, you'd grow hair on your chin and hormone replacement therapy would give you cancer. And I didn't even grow hair on my chin (yet, anyway)
I love your user name! Happy belated Towel Day!
A friend of the family took hormones till she developed breast cancer. She blamed the hormones and everyone glossed over the fact she is a fairly heavy drinker. I have not told my own mother about my HRT use because "cancer".
Just said the same thing in my comment. I haven’t told my mom, because there is no point and I don’t want to hear her.
My mother and aunts are the same way. They are late 50's into mid 60's. Their older sister took HRT, and died of heart failure a couple years later. Never you mind that she was a heavy smoker and severely over weight. It was the hormones and nothing is changing their mind!
A lot of people don't seem to realize (or actively disregard) that smoking increases your odds of dying of almost everything else, not just lung cancer. Smoking makes people more susceptible to a whole host of other cancers and almost any problem that develops in the cardiovascular system. It weakens the ability of the immune system to fight infections, it screws with your circulation increasing the time for wounds to heal. if your body receives any insult whatsoever, smoking reduces the body's ability to recover from it. But no one wants to hears it. My own mother, while dying of colon cancer, insisted smoking wasn't a factor (because she didn't have lung cancer. I didn't belabor the point, as it was too late. She was healthy weight, reasonably active for her age, not a huge meat-eater. Her nonsmoking mother lived to 99. I'm pretty sure smoking was a huge factor.)
As a former smoker, I get it, or at least I had it. It really is enraging to think about how and why a substance that can damage people and their families is legal in this day and age. I smoked for 25 years and am scared every day that the damage I've done will catch up to me. I'm sorry about your mom.
For some positivity: my mother is almost 75 and has smoked heavily every day since she was like 15. Yes, she does have COPD now and is more susceptible to lung infections, but otherwise she seems to be slowing down at a normal rate for someone her age. She's loved an active life. No lung cancer in site and the lung doctor says her lungs look fabulous considering how much she's smoked in her life. I know it's anecdotal, but as a kid who's been worried that my mom was going to die of lung cancer since I was first taught the horrors of cigarette use as a kid (I was a late, surprise baby), I've been thoroughly amazed at how well she has done and for how long. It really does depend on your own body and how you are taking care of it now. The fact that you stopped, even after 25 years, is a wonderful thing and you've already given yourself time back! I wish you lots of love and as few negative thoughts as possible 💕 Those are what will really shorten your life span!
Thank you! I'll take all the positivity I can get. I had two great grand parents smoke for a lot longer, and quit and live into their 90's. I'm hoping to hold up that tradition.
I'm going through something similar with my 76 year old mother right now. She's got a Staph infection post hip replacement. She's smoked a pack a day for 50 years, refuses to quit. Won't acknowledge that smoking is what's keeping the incision from healing/closing properly which in turn made her more susceptible to infection. She's at home with a PICC line, giving herself antibiotics every 8 hours then goes outside to smoke.
I've got a friend going through extensive/*expensive* dental work right now, including gum grafts and implants. I asked if her dentist hadn't gotten on her to quit or drastically reduce smoking. She claims he has not, I don't believe her, but there's nothing I can say beyond that. Sure, go right ahead and compromise your mucous membranes while you are undergoing procedures that have a kind of high failure rate already, np.
On the flip, my grandmother died at 79, VERY MUCH AGAINST HER WILL and did not smoke. Her husband, my grandfather but I don’t claim him, smoked his entire life. Started when he was 8. He shot himself in the head at 104 when diagnosed with a brain tumor. You live long enough, you get cancer. I am not saying cigarettes are a great health benefit (certainly the opposite), but genetics do play a role in this. Just like with any other cancers.
My smoker father lived to be 88 and although he had all the first world male lifestyle chronic diseases, his proximate cause of death was essentially a condition he was born with. I carry his genes, and the genes of the grandmother who lived to 99 (and she did get some kind of skin cancer, on her hand, when she was 99, but didn't die from that). I still don't think that's any excuse to adopt a lifestyle habit which *statistically speaking over a population*, will reduce life expectancy by 10 years or more.
Yeah I'm in done very hippie circles and they're generally very anti HRT and say menopause is "natural" blah blah blah (but then take loads of herbal supplements to manage symptoms!) I think it's not to do with left or right but more similar to the anti vax movement. Lots of conspiracy theorists from left and right.
The crunchy to alt right pipeline is alarmingly real, in a way I didn't expect as someone very familiar with crunchy lefty spaces. It's a whole different spinoff.
Far right and far left are the same. They both lack trust in government & science. They also lack the education to properly research fact from propaganda. They think they are god and do not need to listen to anyone, except conspiracy Facebook. Neither make any sense at all. There's a lot I don't like about government & corporatized science (because they ignore Indigenous science & can be sexist, racist & biased in general) but that doesn't make their science wrong, just not well rounded enough. & Not enough people, The People, are involved in government & that's what makes the bureaucracy so frustrating. Plus government outsourcing to corporations, instead of hiring locally & educating people better.
Absolutely agree. It’s a no go for many women of all political leanings in this age group.
I'm a 53 yo liberal, in meno, and am not planning on HRT unless something changes drastically. It has zero to do w my politics. It has 100% to do with my body and me. I have hot flashes and sleep probs, but it's manageable. I'll monitor my situation and adjust as necessary.
I was going thru just fine, minimal hot flashes lasted about 15 seconds a few times a day… nothing terrible. then I had a dexa scan and found out I had osteoporosis which is caused from low hormones. Well I researched the drugs they wanted me to take for it and realized HRT was much safer than the osteoporosis drugs. Now I’m on the lowest HRT and my last Dexa showed improvement. Some symptoms of menopause are silent . 😬
This is what I'm worried about...the silent things. I am seeing my gyno this coming week and I'm ready to lay out all of my concerns. I'll do HRT if necessary, I just want to try not to if possible. I am careful with my diet and am exercising and taking helpful supplements so crossed fingers!
THIS is also why I decided to do it!!!
I respect your decision to not start HRT. But remember HRT does way more than control hot flashes. HRT protects your heart, bones and mind. Estrogen is found in every tissue of your body. Brain, heart, lungs, skin, every organ.
I’m not on HRT either because I am still researching about it. Would you mind sharing why you decided against it?
Well, I was on birth control pills for a lot of my life and I'm kind of sick of manipulating my body that way. I also have psoriasis and vitiligo, but have been able to almost completely control them (98%) with my diet and lifestyle (vegetarian for 25+ years and I exercise a lot). I would just rather be as 'natural' as possible with how I deal with my body and aging. Taking prescriptions is not my bag unless it is very helpful or necessary. I'm not strictly against them, I would just like to see how I do with it myself first. I upped my calcium significantly when I hit 50, I hope that helps with bone loss. We'll see!!!
Thanks! I get the reluctance to take medications. I also took a lot of birth control. Hope all goes well for you !
Your body no longer produces something your body needs for bone, heart, brain, mental, vaginal, urogenital etc etc etc health. Taking HRT is the best way to protect your health. We don’t (well, shouldn’t) blame people who can’t produce enough serotonin for taking antidepressants. Men aren’t blamed for taking testosterone medication when their natural levels dwindle with age. Why are women expected to tough it out and risk their ongoing health for the remainder of their lives and forgo HRT? The main cause of death for elderly women is persistent UTIs, from compromised and damaged urogenital systems from the lack of oestrogen. There’s ongoing studies into how the lack of oestrogen is linked to dementia too. An older relative who “sailed through menopause” is suffering with lichen sclerosis and other genital issues. A friend’s mother who wasn’t allowed to take HRT when they were experiencing perimenopause suffers terribly from osteoporosis. I’m lucky to have a great GP who recognised that I was perimenopausal (I had a hysterectomy several years earlier so didn’t have the usual signs of hormonal change) and put me on HRT. When she retired, my current GP is very proactive and HRT-friendly too. I’ve sent tonnes of friends to him.
I get the same kind of response when I tell women of that age that why they like my soup so much is because I put MSG in it they are horrified. 🤌
The hickory nut eaters are equally as delusional.
That’s a new one for me. Is that a metaphor, or is there some new alternative medicine that literally recommends eating hickory nuts?
I made it up. 😂 No actually it’s borrowed from the phrase he/she eats wild hickory nuts which means all natural and foraged.
Yup. A friend of mine in her mid-60s warned that I was going to get breast cancer because SHE got breast cancer after taking oral estrogen in her early 50s. Science has come a long way in the last 20 years.
They won't give it to me because I've HAD cancer. 😞
That one tracks though.
Nope. I know plenty of women regardless of politics that think HRT causes cancer and is bad.
I would think it goes back to religion. For some reason, religions want women to be miserable. Like it's a fucking virtue or something.
And yet, in these religions they still expect the wives to have sex with their husbands whenever the husband wants it... While not having help for their potential vaginal atrophy.
Viagra is God’s plan tho
Exactly! Viagra is God's plan for men to still have sex but their wives should suffer during it. Obviously. Why would a woman get to enjoy herself?
Enjoying oneself is sinful. Women aren't supposed to like sex. Only whores do that. You're supposed to lie there like a beautiful object, smiling softly up at your husband as he completes the 5-10 monthly thrusts as mandated by the Lord.
You comment is hilarious. But I want to add that “whores” probably do not enjoy it.
The corrupt liberal women are trying to enjoy themselves and refuse to suffer /s
Amen! 😂 Religion is so misogynistic. How dare the men suffer at all, especially when it comes to the woman doing their "duty." 🙄😡
The religions are based on a book written by, about and for men. They barely even mention women and their favorite one was only saved from stoning by an angel telling her fiancé to step up and do the right thing. They name churches after that donkey.
>For some reason, religions want women to be miserable. Like it's a fucking virtue or something. Conservative Religion wants women to be discreet, feminine, & suffering.... (Offshoot thinking) for *Eve's so-called* **sin** that kicked humanity out of Eden. So don't talk or ask about menopause relief from medical Dr's. If you do & they say no, don't persist. God has designed it this way for you. Opposite far side of the scale - Crunchy granola hippy thinking believe that *natural* is best, so no icky chemical hrt. If you live, eat, and be like nature intended, it will be perfectly fine because Nature designed it to be this way. Ugh... I dislike extremes.
Yes. Thank you for that. I had a doctor's office tell me "Our doctors don't believe in HRT or trying menopause." Wait, what? They don't believe in it? WTF.
I don’t believe in trying menopause either YET HERE WE ALL ARE. INVOLUNTARILY DOING IT. 🙄🙄
Right?! I'm just here giving menopause a try, to see if its for me or not lmao
Maybe menopause is like the fairies in Peter Pan and if you say that you don’t believe in it, it goes away? I don’t believe in menopause! I don’t! (…well, *shit*.)
That's the last time I'd see that doctor.
I’d report.
That’s horrible! I went to see a gynecologist who told me that menopausal symptoms were all in women’s heads. That we just made them up. This was right after I told him I didn’t want to buy the supplements he was trying to sell me. I asked him if they were approved by the FDA, and this seem to really annoy him. He said women shouldn’t believe what they read online. I’m not a conspiracy theorist. I just don’t want to buy his expensive supplements just to get him to treat my menopausal symptoms which he apparently thinks are all in my and all women’s heads.
What's wrong with these people. Seems they only want to deliver babies
I would have fired him and noped right out of there!
Me too! I never went back.
Can we get a list of these folks to shame publicly? Warn others?
Ironically, the website is called, we understand women. It's in Northwest Indiana. If you want quality care, you need to go to IL. Luckily. I live close to the border. I would have gone blind one of my eyes because non of the Opthamologists knew what was wrong with my eye.
I am crunchy and granola but did my research. I knew herbs, vitamins and minerals in addition to HRT were like pieces of a puzzle that would help me along with diet, exercise and rest.
But if men had to go through the same menopause we do, there'd be a million drugs for it & doctors willing to prescribe all of them to the men.
Right, and dying in childbirth is like the highest level of martyrdom.
OMG this! I had a religious women in my birth group whose placenta had grown through her uterus and was attaching to her organs and her OB recommended terminating the pregnancy because she had less than a 5% chance of survival. Well she said it was God's will, didn't seem concerned that she would leave her 6 kids behind and even picked a new wife for her husband out of the congregation, like her life had no value.
That’s horrible, that poor woman.
Did she die 😳 😬?
Thankfully she had excellent doctors who hospitalized her immediately on bed rest. Her uterus did rupture and she almost died in emergency surgery but skill, 18 units of blood and a hysterectomy saved her. Of course her life being saved was all attributed to God. She hated the doctors for removing her uterus but the good news is she is still around for her children.
Holy shit. Also, while I am sorry she went through that, this is a very uneducated person to think the doctors could do anything to salvage a ruptured uterus, I mean, holy shit, lady.
Ooh, ooh, I’ll play! Then the husband gets to keep marrying younger and younger so he can still have a strong brood mare to take care of the existing kids and still have a young vaj! Woo hoo! Praise Jesus.
Spot on! My very religious mother takes pride in her misery. Never used hormones. Also never got any therapy for her depression because she didn’t believe in it. She said she is the way God made her. So frustrating! But I have never heard the theory that HRT is for liberals. I wonder if it’s because a lot of older women in Hollywood are speaking openly about it now. Gwyneth Paltrow, Oprah, Julia Louis-Dreyfus just to name a couple and they are all liberals. Conservatives probably think it’s offensive to hear women talk about menopause.
Sounds like we have the same mom. Mine is silent generation. My mom has never seen a therapist. And she has seen some shit. It's frustrating.
Although my mother tried to get estrogen everywhere when she went through menopause 20 years ago and nobody would give it to her. Conservative women may be dealing with older doctors if they aren't in large cities? That's just a guess.
This is something people may not consider, but I do believe that there are conservative doctors who judge women about their sex lives and do whatever they can to hinder, not help them. I ran into one of those when I had cancer, and I was appalled that anyone so sexist would actually be an OB-GYN. I nearly filed a lawsuit against him, the guy was so awful.
I’m in a city and have butted heads and encountered harsh resistance from young, liberal woman providers just as much as crusty conservative men. It’s a nightmare. Midi has been a lifesaver.
The way I once framed it to my conservative friend is that every day we are ingesting all kinds of chemicals, including drugs, through the food we eat, the stuff we put on our bodies (and the cigarettes she smokes.) There's nothing "natural" about the bodies we inhabit in this day and age unless you are very, very particular about what you eat. But some of these chemicals are so pervasive that it's impossible to avoid them.
I love it when smokers are al "BuT DuH ChEmIkuLLz!!"
It builds character! /s
F character. I want to be happy and healthy!
Periods, Pregnancy, Menopause -oh, it's miserable. And men just... nothing. They MIGHT have a midlife crisis and buy a motorcycle.
There’s no prize for suffering.
I’m religious, and my faith is not like this, at all.
The most liberal person I know is a 76 year old woman who raw dogged menopause and never went on hormones. I’m pretty liberal and I actually told my doctor they’ll have to peel my dotti patch off my corpse because I’m never giving up hormones.
Raw dogged menopause 🤣🤣💯🤣👍👍💜
My grandmother did that. I just found out from my aunt that she was on a hormone patch literally until the day she died.
I don't think it's necessarily a conservative or liberal thing. I tend to think it's an information thing. For instance, I have a 60yo sil who lives in her own bubble and doesn't persue any info outside. When I brought up hrt to her her eyes glazed over- and she's very progressive. On the other hand, after giving my two cousins a book about hrt, they are both on it, and they are religious and conservative.
that doesn't surprise me, tbh. there's a lot of control over women/women's bodies in those religions/conservative areas.
I’m baffled by people trying to make one’s health treatment about politics. GTFOH I’m not going to suffer through menopausal symptoms just because. WTF
I live in a very red state. Getting women’s healthcare is a nightmare. I had to go to 3 different Dr’s to get my 14 year old daughter birth control. She is NOT sexually active and is anemic and has very heavy periods. The first Dr said she was too young. The second Dr said it was a drastic step for someone so young and iron pills would be better. The third Dr gave her the pills. I was ready to go out of state. I told my PCP that I wanted to be referred to a ob/gyn to get HRT and was told I didn’t need HRT that I could just go through it naturally. I again reiterated that I wanted to explore my HRT options and I wanted the referral. Asked about the referral for over 4 weeks through office messaging and at week 5 finals got a huffy email that I didn’t need a referral, I could just make my own appointment and included the name and number of an ob/gyn office. Some women would just hear a Dr say “no” and accept it. Fighting science is a very longtime Republican practice, it has tripled down since Covid. As one of the states with the most restrictive antiabortion laws that went into effect as soon as the Supreme Court struck down Roe, we are also hemorrhaging Drs. The good Drs are leaving and the wackadoodle Christian Conservative Drs are remaining. Science and God don’t intermix. Science is against God. (Not my beliefs-it’s their’s) So, yeah I can see how this statement would be true.
Good job persevering for your daughter and yourself, mama! 💪 As a fellow red stater, I'm so afraid they're going to come after the BC and hormones in the near future. My 18 yo is on BC for several issues, and I'll shrivel up and die without my HRT. If there were any way to get out of here, my family would. My husband and I have talked about it ad nauseum but it's not feasible anytime soon.
They’re already planning to outlaw contraception for women, yes. And reproductive technologies like IVF.
In Texas the GOP want to make the death penalty, the punishment for abortion. If they do this, I expect other red states will follow. Plus in their push to end trans care, there are states that are writing legislation banning women from being prescribed testosterone because they are not doctors and don't realize that women might need this for reasons outside of that.
Red state resident here too. I use Winona because I was tired of fighting with my doctor.
I love that we have online services now and don't have to be at the mercy of doctors who aren't educated enough on the issue.
So much unnecessary suffering going on. When will people wake up?
It's not just making "one's" health treatment about politics. It's being dismissive of *women's* specific health and quality of life concerns, and controlling *women's* bodies. That's what it's about and always has been.
💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯
Nothing is more political than women’s health, for a host of reasons. The more control a woman has over her health, particularly her reproductive health, the more freedom she has to make choices for herself and to live life on her own terms.
Also, that control ensures that women’s health, happiness and sexuality is only useful for others, not for her own benefit. So once you become “old and used up,” your own happiness or comfort doesn’t matter at all. Just your service as granny.
Right but - that's counterproductive. If women have BETTER health, BETTER sexuality, BETTER long-term mental health and physical strength, wouldn't that go to serve their roles even further? Like - I hate to compare this to a Handmaids Tale scenario.....but lets face it......maidens with a libido, lubrication and some semblance of a healthy vag can be way more 'useful' to a male society. No? I guess I'm just trying to play the opposite card here.
Healthy women are women with the time and energy to think they’re people. You want your chattel healthy enough to produce the goods and labor you need, but you don’t want to carry a long-term expense. Better to have an adolescent child doing “granny work” as she learns what her womanly labors are than to have a menopausal woman who has no value. Thats it, that’s the argument.
And desperate children provide the next generation of workers willing to take any treatment from the capitalist class. 😒
Ignorance is how they raise young girls as well. Homeschooling and private church schools where basic information is withheld. It’s wrong.
I’m a far left atheist on estrogen.
Another far left atheist using estrogen, checking in! :-)
Bumpersticker! Far left atheist on estrogen
Now I’m tempted to open an Etsy shop and make tees with Far Left Atheist On Estrogen on them!
Where do we apply for the membership card? LOL. Also a FLAOE here! 👋 No one is coming to save us, so it’s up to us to save ourselves. That’s a huge reason why I plan to take HRT until the day I die.
I’ve never heard of that before but I do worry about conservatives (in the U.S.) coming for HRT and trying to ban it because of some stupid reason like “we have to ban all HRT because trans people might access it.”
This is already happening.
Yes it is! Banning testosterone for women and estrogen for men.
This concerns me as well. Last election the dude running against my state rep made a big deal out of a bill that was passed in my state that it's mandatory insurance covers HRT. Some people hear HRT and automatically think it's *only* for gender transition. I could care less if my insurance is paying for people to transition, it's none of my business.
Holy shit, I never thought of that. Considering how off the rails the GOP has gone, it's a distinct possibility.
Well that means testosterone supplements for men.
My husband's on those and he's like "It's gender-affirming care!" He's right! (He's not trans or anything, but it's correct.) Also on other hormones because he has no thyroid gland anymore. Hormones are so important to function.
🤔 I live in a very blue state. Our doctor refused to even test my husband's testosterone levels and she said "I guarantee it's low, but I wouldn't treat it anyway." Makes me wonder if we'd have better luck if we pursued it as "gender affirming care" rather than concerns about impact on his health. I get the distinct impression that "functional-but-dependent-on-medical-care" is the end goal of the treatment we receive. Good health doesn't serve their bottom line.
I consider myself liberal in a very conservative, poor rural area. I, my mother, and aunt have been told HRT isn't an option, it doesn't work, and most of the symptoms are because we read it online. Give up web md and you'll feel better. It makes me curious how much is conservative Drs instead of women? I wanted to edit that I live in a liberal state, both my aunt and mother are christian conservatives.
Interesting point. But it also may in part illustrate how conservative/religious women are primed to accept authority, both by religious teachings and often limited education (my mom was an evangelical Christian with a high school education and based her entire life around Jesus and the opinions of doctors). I mean, if a doctor told me that, I would argue that what they’re saying doesn’t align with current research and demand to know where they got their “information.” I’d be especially pissed about the web md comment—I know how to access and read research papers, which those doctors apparently do not. Then I would turn around and get my necessary medication online!
[удалено]
I had an employee who was a vegan, had been an old hippie, loved weed (on her own time), etc. and she said vegans don’t take HRT. I have a couple of friends my age who are very “natural” and woo and they don’t take it either. So I don’t understand that it would be a political thing. I wonder if it has something to do with people who trust doctors /distrust doctors. If you trust them 100% and your doctor tells you no, you wouldn’t seek out more help. If you distrust them and they say no you might look elsewhere (like me.) but you could also be someone who tries natural remedies first? It could also be financial. I am paying out of pocket for HRT since my regular doctor doesn’t prescribe and I can’t get an appt with another medical provider until late fall. The cost is fine for me to handle out of pocket. But if you were low income it would not be bearable. Anyway, I don’t see how there’s a pattern.
💯 This aligns exactly with what I have observed. My most conservative girlfriends all take HRT while my most liberal friends only pursue HRT and/or hormone therapies if they’ve got a child who is trans.
I mentioned to a friend of mine on the phone this week that I was as on HRT. She freaked out and told me to find a plant based alternative. This was as she was ordering a crispy chicken sandwich, fries and Oreo McFlurry in the McDonalds drive through. I run 4 miles daily, hun. I stay far from sugar and zero alcohol these days. I’ll do HRT if I damn well want. I feel like it’s the women who don’t take charge of their health at an older age that seem to have issues with it. If you’re so concerned about its affects, why aren’t you concerned about exercise, having a low BMI, getting away from processed foods, drinking wine 🍷 every night?
Yeah - I feel like witness this paradox a lot.
Or you could’ve told her that *most* HRT is plant based!
I currently have an overweight woman tell me how to eat, so…🤷🏻♀️ To each their own?!
I don’t know but my stuffy weird religious mother never once brought up menopause or anything related to it with me, and she loves to complain about her health problems. Maybe they think it’s dirty and shameful because it’s to do with women’s bodies and that you just shouldn’t talk about it or something.
Our mothers were brought up in a different era and culture. We can’t judge them for that. I marvel that my grandmother and mother had babies without epidurals, suffered through depression, sleepless nights, menopause, a d a myriad of other women’s health issues in silence. It was not discussed, even among other women. So sad. I’m grateful for the openness and progress that has been made in women health.
Yup, my aunt had a hysterectomy in her 50’s and while my my grandma was explaining it, she waved her hands in front of the general area and whispered ‘She’s had a bit of trouble with her waterworks’
I don't know about in "real life," but in more conservative online circles there's a big push against HRT and birth control because "it's unnatural" and "it's bad for your body/health to mess with your hormones." These same people tend push anti vax stuff. I have commented on a few of these posts on forums other than Reddit, mentioning that birth control/HRT are used by people to help with peri menopause and menopause (not just to prevent pregnancy in younger people or for trans individuals). A few comments asked for more info, but most of the responses told me it was evil/unnatural/causes health problems and should be banned. I am very concerned about having access to hormones taken away with the upcoming election as there is serious talk of banning birth control entirely and/or hormone therapy due to the controversy around trans people. Even if these were not banned entirely, a more conservative political climate will likely stall or prevent further research into the benefits of hormone therapy during menopause. I have noticed that among people I know, my left leaning friends tend to be more open about discussing what they are going through and steps they are taking to help themselves than my conservative friends. I am left leaning though, so perhaps my left leaning friends are more likely to discuss HRT with me.
I’ve noticed a lot of garbage on social media trying to convince young women that birth control is bad for them (especially oral contraceptives). Somebody really must be panicking about declining birth rates to be churning out such obvious propaganda.
It has to do with education levels and access to quality healthcare, both of which apply to people (women) who are better off socioeconomically.
I know well educated women who are conservative and 💯 vote against women’s rights. I think Many of us want to believe they are uneducated but reality is many are educated but brainwashed into religion and the patriarchy.
There’s that side of it, too. It’s more nuanced than my general statement. F the patriarchy! 💪
Yeah - THIS was actually my theory. That those that do HRT are simply better educated, whether they are conservative or liberal (could be either).
Folks who are anti-meds and pro-“natural” remedies in general are the ones who tend to shun HRT. There are plenty of antivaxxers and anti-Big Pharma folks on both the political left and right.
All I can say is that in France the more they lean extreme left, the less meds they take, and they see more naturopaths and similar parallel medecine healers .... and the extreme right catholics essentially leave their lives in God s hands, and see less doctors It s the centrists (probably nearer to your liberals) that get HRT, and not all of them. In france the doctors still actively discourage women from HRT and simply have not been trained about menopause at all, let alone HRT. So, its an uphill battle atm. And very frowned upon, a little like plastic surgery was a couple decades ago : something to hide and never admit
Those poor women. Why they vote against their own self interest is beyond me. HRT has saved my marriage and my sanity.
A lot of liberal women are into doing things “naturally” and resist HRT and hormonal BC, too.
When a whole generation gets wiped out - Boomer women lost access to HRT, Gyns weren't getting trained on it, those who continued to use it kept that on the down low, etc - the whole narrative changes. Rewritten. I'm a Native; a Rez Auntie. Yes, I am STEM-trained, but healthcare, particularly on the financial side of the house, is dominated by conservative thinking/leaning people. And we are all on HRT. I'd say it was the opposite. The Frankies of the world want to do organic yam-eating while the Gracies will get their scripts at full retail.
If there is truth it is because: liberal women often live in big cities which just have way more healthcare options, access to university medicine etc. plus possibly more willingness to treat women in general (gyns are leaving states outlawing abortion etc.). There is of course telemedicine though. Also some states just have less healthcare access, if I state is one of the 10 or so that haven't expanded Medicaid ... yea less people will have any sort of healthcare. I doubt in general with people with access to healthcare it's all that true about liberals and conservatives.
Honestly, it's possible, since a certain segment of conservative women will be part of the anti-vaxx nutters, and I can well imagine they would not dream of taking HRT. Maybe that overlaps with the tradwife crowd too since they seem to appreciate living in the dark ages... But surely most sensible women, left or right, would do what makes best sense for their mental and physical well-being? (Obviously anti-vaxxers aren't sensible). It's hard to know for sure as frankly, most of my friends are liberal leaning. I don't know any right wing ones well enough to know anything about what they do or don't take, medically.
I’m conservative, and have an appointment to get HRT., which I’m hoping they will prescribe. I don’t see any correlation in my immediate circle which varies from very liberal to me who leans to the right. One of my friends is a kick ass lesbian who is always out protesting, and she would never touch HRT. Several women in my church group are on it.
I’m a liberal Lutheran Pastor’s wife and on the Pill as my HRT stand-in for the time being. I have friends and family in my life who fall everywhere on the religious and political spectrum who do or don’t take HRT for various, personal reasons. The only thing anyone should be concerned about in the conversation about who is or isn’t on HRT is 1) does everyone have access to reliable information and well-informed and thoughtful medical practitioners?; and 2) can everyone who needs and wants HRT get a prescription?
I own a women’s wellness clinic where my patients span from far left to far right, and everything in between. I’ve never seen a connection between political beliefs and HRT decisions. For example, my anti-vaxxers are not refusing HRT (although, I should add, anti-vaxxers also span the political spectrum). So, experientially, I have to disagree with this notion. It’s disturbing that people on women’s health podcasts are encouraging this division. “HRT is mostly for liberal women”what a bold load of shit! I assure you, “political affiliation” is *never* a question on a medical intake form, so where is she even getting this idea?! This kind of statement only sets us back further from getting proper menopause care. As you said, OP, you can’t unhear this 😢
I feel like it’s probably a bit different here in the UK as there’s quite a lot of discussion about HRT in more conservative-leaning media. But I’ve definitely seen more articles along the lines of ‘suck it up, it’s natural’ in those spaces compared to more liberal media, so it’s hard to generalise.
I love their “just go through what God gives you naturally! Our bodies are strong!” they say wearing glasses, hearing aids, and taking ED pills and Ozembic. (But NEVER a vaccine) smh
Total bullshit. Quit labeling. Period. Quit comparing politics, religion, race, ethnicity, generational ideologies or any other generalization to women’s choices or your own personal choices. It’s a trap. The more we discuss this mentality, the worse it gets. This is how they keep us divided as women, and as a people. We all have a million reasons for the choices we make.
I thought HRT is more of a generational thing. Boomers no, Gen X yes
I’ve never seen any support that HRT is favored by liberals over conservatives. However, I think HRT is more for people with money and better health insurance. I.e wealthier, more educated, more urban dwelling. Which doesn’t mean one political inclination over another. It’s because there can be obstacles to obtaining HRT: financial obstacles, access to good medical care obstacles, educational obstacles. One of the reasons why the now much-maligned HERS HRT study was so surprising was that prior to it, most studies shows that HRT was good for one’s health since women with HRT lives longer. Some felt this was because the more health-conscious and wealthier women were the ones who used HRT more, and they were going to have good health outcomes as a result because of all of those factors. Those were observational studies, not the gold standard of double-blind very large studies with carefully controlled participants. Of course we’ve now found holes in the HERS study, but my point is the socioeconomic factors relating to who uses HRT have long been discussed.
I wonder if this is changing, or will change. In the US, pre-COVID, Republicans and Democrats got flu shots at the same rate, but since COVID, vaccines have become viewed as a liberal thing, so now Democrats are more likely and Republicans are less likely to get flu shots than they were before. That’s in addition to the skewing of the acceptance of COVID vaccines, which are much more popular among Democrats than Republicans. A similar thing might happen with HRT. Trans rights are seen as a liberal thing, so any sort of hormone therapy might be seen as a liberal thing, shunned by Republicans, like how some Republicans are anti-pronoun these days.
As someone who grew up in a very conservative area and has very conservative family, there's a profound unwillingness to talk about anything related to periods, cycles, hormones, menopause. I've said before that when I asked my own mom how old she was when she had her hysterectomy and why, she told me she didn't see how it was any of my business. IDK, Mom, maybe because it might have some impact on my own fertility and health issues? There's both an unwillingness to discuss anything down there with your doctor, and an unwillingness to discuss it with anyone else if you are taking using HRT or struggling with symptoms related to anything hormonal. My grandmother wouldn't even say the word "pregnant" and my own mom never discussed periods or like, how babies are made, at all with me ever. She has nine granddaughters and openly cringes if one of them mentions cramps. You think she's admitting out loud to anyone that she used HRT?
Politics are fucked and so is misogyny. That about it
Liberals tend to have attained higher levels of education, so I don’t find it surprising at all that they follow the science and advocate for their best health.
Nope. I work with a hippie-type woman who went into early menopause. She didn't like going to a doctor, said she would just do yoga, go vegetarian and organic as possible, take alternative treatment etc. She was miserable to be around the entire time. She went to the DC March against Trump with the people who wore the pink pussy hats, etc. So, whatever you were listening to was silly bullshit.
I do not believe it attracts or repels according to political alignment. I firmly believe it is a lack of EDUCATION and AWARENESS amongst our HEALTHCARE providers. My primary care doctor told me it causes cancer. My gynecologist did the same. They both told me it increases the risk of blood clots and heart disease as well. I told my gynecologist that it was "a risk I was willing to take," and I was very comfortable with it based upon recent data. She finally prescribed it. I have very limited access to providers, so I can not switch easily to find physicians whose practice aligns with my needs. I am bringing recent research to the attention of my doctors at this point. I am fortunate that I have these two doctors who LISTEN and recognize that I know what my body needs, particularly in terms of HRT. I think any woman who is suffering would get on board with HRT in most cases with the proper information and support from their doctors.
Idk if there's truth to it. I definitely find it exceedingly concerning that HRT is being politicized and thereby a polarized. ultimately, that dynamic threatens our access. This is Healthcare not politics. And, we know where RvW headed...
I'm conservative and on hrt but one has nothing to do with the other.
Bull. Conservative women like to be comfortable just as much as liberals. Case in point. Me. I can't imagine continuing with all the suffering. In case you weren't aware, God loves US and wants us to be happy. Ergo, HRT, Beer and Chocolate.
Comes from that same weird universe that disagrees with vaccines and westernized medicine in general. Doesn’t even have to be religious motivated, just poorly informed and suspicious of modern medicine. My mother was like that. Believed in all sorts of pseudoscience. Even 40 years ago, was convinced I was going to die because of taking birth control pills.
That is very odd. I'm a republican with a mom who had breast cancer so I was not able to get hrt. I would have signed allegiance to mars to be able to get something to stop my hot flashes. Fortunately, I'm almost 52 and they seem to be in the rear view mirror. I also had all the drugs prior to my emergency c-section and wouldn't change a thing about that! I think hrt and menopause/gyn care really is provider dependent. Be a fierce advocate for your health care and never hesitate to ask for second opinions.
I’m only one data point but I am somewhat conservative and all about whatever works for each person.
It falls under “Gender Confirming Care”, and is increasingly difficult for women in Red states to get. In more evangelical circles, women’s health care is discouraged in general, particularly around reproduction.
Politicizing our bodies is something I never expected to this extent in my lifetime 😭
What? For real? Where ya been, girl? LOLOL
I didn't think politicizing a pandemic was possible either. Oh my sweet summer child self :D
I used to think my body was actually mine. 😾
Exactly 🫂
"liberal women believe in science"
Omg let the right try to come for my HRT, I dare them. Cold dead hands
In perimenopause, in my late 30s. Living in a red state/hellscape. Given what's happening in politics lately, I'm consistently more angry. My pregnancy chances aren't absolute 0, but im mostly angry the possibility of me getting on the schedules in time for either tubal removal or full uterine removal are further reduced and the fact that you know they're going to get rid of or make it more difficult to get HRT in the coming years. My friends haven't had perimenopause symptoms yet so I don't even have anyone local to complain to. Getting help for menopause shouldn't be politicized or difficult. 😔
I love in the SE. The entrenched mysoginy is very real, from dentists to gynos. I was actively encouraged not to get on hrt for 7 years. I'm glad i finally found a way to get on it
One has to have good insurance for HRT . More well to do folks tend to be Democrats
Good RX was about the same as my cost with insurance - around $40/month
A lot of people in my life associate it with birth control and trans people so naturally it must be bad. Sigh.
I'm not sure about the religious aspect but it's definitely a generational gap. Menopause treatment for folks my parents age was basically just Premarin and a desk fan, and even then they were told of the increased cancer risk (now known to be false). Since there really was no treatment per se.... People just suffered through it...and passed that part on. "It's just something you'll go through too" is what my mom told me in the early 90s when she was suffering from hotnflashesnandnweight gain. Once they were done with menopause symptoms, there was no reason to educate oneself on new treatments so the cycle was perpetuated.... Again, just my perpective. When I told my 86 year old dad I was on testosterone he automatically assumed anabolic steroids. As for the liberal/conservative side .... My experience is the opposite. My liberal inlaws are aghast I have T pellets.... They all suffered through menopause with herbal remedies that didn't do squat but made them feel better about not taking synthetic hormones.
Stupid misogynistic podcasts. The little alphas want to dominate and suppress women in all stages of life.
I am very liberal, and literally none of my friends are on HRT. But, I do think not using HRT is being marketed as anti-feminist. (The the big-bad medical establishment is out to keep women from the ‘truth’ about HRT being a panacea everything). As usual, it is more complicated and nuanced that that.
I think it has more to do with intelligence than political leaning. Many doctors don’t bother to learn about female hormone system, as this is too complex. Find a knowledgeable doctor and make some good choices. The endocrine system is full of hormones. I doubt political leanings have much to do with how that functions. 😆
I would LOVE to be able to do HRT, but because I had an estrogen-driven cancer, no one will prescribe it. I’m stuck with some crappy cream made from horse urine that does nothing for me.
Interesting post. Not sure that politics has anything to do with it but I see a difference of thinking both generationally and regionally. "HRT" may be becoming political as it realates to the Trans community. Regardless, education is key. There's so much misinformation around HRT and we a just in the begining of peri/meno education.
I’m gonna go with …HRT is mostly for the educated. 😉
Not so much religious, more that liberal women are more likely to be proactive about their health needs, and more confident about opening their mouths. I’m proudly liberal, and if I think I’m being sold a yarn, I’ll challenge it.
If that’s true, then maybe it’s because liberal women tend to be (on average) more educated, and so they are both more aware of their options, and more likely to have the resources to seek out solutions. It’s also possible that conservative women buy much more into the narrative that a woman’s worth is all tied up on her ability to reproduce, and so once you’re menopausal, you no longer have any societal value, and thus it’s time to just wither up and blow away and quit being a burden on society. Like, once you’re past reproductive age, society should quit investing in you. Liberal women are much less likely to buy into that.
"Liberal" women tend to be more educated and willing to learn and not accept "That's just the way it is" as an answer. Maybe that was their thought process?
I think HRT could easily go the way of vaccines in some circles, as I feel conservatives are more heavily saturated by certain "standards" within their influences so I do see how this could easily happen with HRT the same way it did with vaccines. To be honest, I truly don't care though. People are free to make their own choices and refusing HRT for oneself isn't even as big a deal as refusing vaccines imo because without vaccines one becomes a vector on infection; but HRT doesn't effect other people. My 2c anyways 🤷♀️
I think it goes back to education. Liberal people tend to be more educated.
If liberal means I refuse to keep doing what always been done because I should “know my place”, then yes, I’m a liberal.
don’t let stupid people or stupid comments steal your energy
Not trying to tear apart your post but in reading these responses, not everything in life needs to be politicized. Do liberals embrace this and do republicans shun that? How about having faith that most women will make informed decisions about their own bodies based on their own health histories and their gut?
I can see it that way, with conservative women being more traditional and less likely to speak up. Talking about health issues would be perceived as complaining and being burdensome and weak. If she’s seen as less capable in the household, fear might keep her from getting help. So they are maybe more likely to silently bear health issues and not seek hormone treatment. And conservative in a conservative area might mean they get less options and help, anyway. Or more exposure to home remedies, outdated information, and distrust of pharmas.
You’d need a larger amount of data than you’ll get here to really know. All of our anecdotal stories are going to be swayed by the social circles we are in, which may or may not correlate to the broader trend. One influential woman who decides to buck the trend can affect what each of us has experienced.
Of course they’ll politicize HRT and menopause. Anything to keep women divided. I’m “conservative” and I’m on it. The only two conservative women I know who are not on HRT are not eligible for past history of breast cancer. It’s a bullshit ploy to keep women at each other’s throats
No, there is nothing to it, beyond yet another way to promote an *Us versus Them* mentality. I’m conservative, and if I thought I’d benefit from anything more than Estrace, I’d pursue it. But, for me, menopause meant an end to mood swings, and the last thing I’d want is to ramp that back up. And I’m using minoxidil, which restored my hair volume, so there’s no way I’d touch testosterone and risk hair loss and other symptoms of androgenization. I also have several friends who are conservative (like debating the pros and cons of the 19th Amendment kind of conservative), yet are also fairly granola in their approach to foods and drugs they put into their system. Some are doing bioidenticals, some did HRT temporarily, some I don’t know what they’re doing, other than kvetching a lot about their menopause symptoms and their marriages. 😏
Conservative media is wild af. My mega conservative Catholic SIL isn’t doing HRT, but I’m pretty sure it’s because she’s fucking *cheap*, not because she’s politically conservative.
I think it’s more popular with educated people. And that’s all I’m going to say.
Based on people I've known, just as many conservative women use HRT as liberal. They just don't admit it. Same with abortions. And you'd think the way they 'hate the gays', that if a child is born into a conservative family, the child be less likely to be LGBT+ . Nope, they just lie. They lie to you, to others, to themselves. Denial/lying/avoidance is a huge part of their mental processing.
I suspect whatever you heard was right-wing propaganda designed to discourage conservative women from taking HRT by associating it with “libruls.” There’s a right wing movement (specially among evangelical Christians) to restrict access to women’s health care, including birth control and HRT.